Last July I speculated that the combination of my new PowerBook and iPod would enable me to make a short list of music that I couldn't do without. The results surprised me a bit:
The preponderance of Bach is no big shock, but I would've expected more Yes and at least some Ellington. But the foregoing list reflects only what I've been listening to most in the last eight months or so -- I got a bit burnt out on Yes there for a while, listened to Mellow Candle's Swaddling Songs a few times a week last fall (!), went on a similar John Bayless kick, and often listen to some recordings via CD at home so they don't get counted (I'm thinking especially of Joe Pass, Ella Fitzgerald, Mollie O'Brien, Paul Desmond, and Marian McPartland). It'll be interesting to observe the long-term trends (say, over three or five years).